Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

As soon as He Baiding stepped out of the mountain, he encountered a Taoist priest dressed in tattered clothes. The man was startled when he saw him, probably because he had never seen someone dressed like that before. Then, noticing the gourd of wine on the priest's waist, he asked to ask for a drink.

"Let's not even talk about whether you can drink it or not."

There was still wine in the gourd. He himself was a pseudonym created by the system, and the gourd and wine were fixed items. However, he wasn't lying when he said he was going to buy wine; sitting there doing nothing was indeed too boring.

"There are no extra cups here."

The two stood at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by only three things: trees, grass, and the ground. Whether others could drink the wine that came with the system was another matter, but there wasn't even a cup in this place, so He Baiding couldn't find anything to share the wine with.

"A cup, right? That's easy!"

The Taoist priest didn't take it seriously. When he heard that He Baiding was willing to share the wine, he immediately turned around, bent down, and looked for something on the ground. He Baiding saw that this guy was not simple, so he didn't move and just stood there with his arms crossed, watching him look for something.

A moment later, the Taoist priest picked up a piece of bark from the ground, rubbed it between his hands, and the dry, ugly bark turned into a rather pretty wine bowl.

He Baiding raised an eyebrow. This guy was dressed in rags, but he didn't expect him to have some skills.

With the wine container ready, He Baiding generously poured wine for the other party. He was quite curious about how the native would feel after drinking the wine provided by the system.

The feedback that followed was that it tasted good, a rare find among wines. The two found a place to sit down, treating it as a gathering of drinking buddies.

“Friend, this gourd of yours is a treasure.”

The wine bowl the Taoist priest conjured was quite large. He Baiding refilled it several times and drank a few sips himself. This fox didn't look very big, but the amount of wine he poured never seemed to decrease, so there must be something special inside.

"It's just a container for wine; it's not a treasure."

As for why it couldn't be finished pouring out, He Baiding didn't know; he could only ask the system.

"My surname is Shan. I've been traveling around and have come here. What's your name, friend?"

While He Baiding hadn't said anything yet, the other person had already called his friends.

"Daozu Hebai Ding, followed by his name."

While speaking, He Baiding looked elsewhere and barely made eye contact with the Taoist priest surnamed Shan. Sitting down to drink was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. He hadn't forgotten the purpose of his trip. He wanted to check out other places selling alcohol and see when the two people from the underworld would return.

The Taoist priest's gaze fell on He Baiding. He was genuinely startled when he saw the newcomer. He had traveled the world and seen all sorts of incongruous outfits, but even so, He Baiding's was truly unique.

The most striking thing to see was the Buddhist crown on his head. When the Taoist priest first saw him, he thought he was a monk. But upon closer inspection, he realized that the man was wearing a Taoist robe, made of a dark blue fabric commonly found in Taoist robes, and decorated with several Tai Chi patterns.

Compared to her upper body, the gold-trimmed dress was less noticeable, with its exaggerated stand-up collar, gilded shoulder ornaments, cascading black hair, and hair ornaments that looked like they were made from a gourd and hung down on either side of her face.

Adding to the equally exaggerated golden Buddha crown on his head, the most eye-catching part of this person is his upper body, with various gilded colors seemingly emphasizing the head, making it impossible to tell at first glance whether he is a Buddha or a Taoist.

Because the person in front of him was so unusual, the act of asking for a drink was less about being greedy or thirsty, and more about testing the waters.

He had heard rumors on his travels that strange people had appeared in various places, dressed in gorgeous clothes, using immortal-like methods, and claiming to be Taoist practitioners. However, they were several times more attractive than wandering Taoists like him.

The Taoist priest himself was a man who made a living by his own magic. He would occasionally perform some magic tricks on the street to earn some travel expenses. When he had enough, he would continue to travel. There were many people like him in the world. If he was lucky, he might even meet fellow disciples.

I had wondered before whether the so-called glamorous immortals were just some colleagues trying to attract attention. Some people are so greedy that they might use magic indiscriminately to pretend to be gods and deceive people.

But then he thought about it again and realized that something was wrong. These Taoist priests did have gorgeous clothes, but they were only wearing ritual robes, which were very precious. From the rumors he had heard, those people were clearly not dressed like that, and even the basic style was different from what he was wearing now.

Regardless of the circumstances, it's a waste of time, effort, and money for a group of people to create several sets of gorgeous fairy costumes just to travel around scamming people. Putting aside their motives, the cost is simply wrong. Why spend so much effort to scam people when they could do so many other things with that money?

Since he couldn't stay in his original place anymore, and someone had taken a liking to the Taoist priest's skills and started harassing him, this Taoist priest, who considered himself to have some conscience, decided to leave and take the opportunity to go see the place where immortals were said to appear.

After making inquiries, the Taoist priest arrived here. Unexpectedly, before he even reached the city gate, he encountered someone similar to the rumored person at the foot of the mountain.

"I've never seen anyone like you before. What brings you here, my friend?"

Although He Baiding was wearing protective gear such as hand guards, the wide sleeves, gilded shoulder ornaments, and stand-up collar did not seem to be designed for easy movement. Yet, this person came from the mountains and did not take the established mountain paths.

If you let a Taoist priest walk in the mountains dressed like this, firstly, he wouldn't be able to tame the big stand-up collar, and secondly, the mountain roads are difficult to walk on. He's willing to bet that he'll definitely fall down the mountain road and roll down the mountain in the end.

"What are you doing here?"

Hearing the question from the person next to him, He Baiding turned his head and thought that it wasn't something he couldn't talk about, and he wouldn't stay here any longer anyway.

“A certain bald monk doesn’t take care of his body. He’s injured himself again and is now half-dead. To prevent him from becoming a dead donkey, I’m going to find him a doctor.”

"Uh... bald..."

At first glance, these words sound like the two are enemies, but upon closer listening, one realizes that the speaker is worried about the other's injury. The way he addresses him is quite unusual; even if he saw a random monk on the street, Daoist Shan wouldn't dare to call him "bald donkey" directly.

"That's quite an urgent situation."

"I've found a doctor who can help. Now I'm looking for another person. Once I see him, I'll leave immediately."

He Baiding had already revealed his purpose, but this information was of no use to others. He had not revealed his background or identity, yet he spoke with such openness and composure, as if he didn't care at all. Those who listened couldn't tell whether he was deliberately hiding anything.

The Taoist priest decided to continue trying to get closer to him.

"It's good that you found it. I used to perform magic tricks on the street. A rich young man took a liking to my invisibility technique and kept pestering me to learn it."

At this point, Taoist Shan sighed.

"It's not that I'm stingy with small skills, but of all the things he wanted to learn, he had to learn invisibility. If he taught that skill to someone else, it would be fine if it was a gentleman, but the worst thing would be if a villain learned it."

"……indeed."

He Baiding rarely echoed this sentiment.

"If I were to use this invisibility to steal, or follow a pretty girl into her room, I would be an accomplice to evil, which would damage my reputation and my reputation."

It wasn't that he was hiding away, afraid that others would take his job. On the contrary, if someone was willing to become his disciple, Master Shan would be happy to expand his sect. What if a true genius emerged?

But it was clear that the young master didn't intend to become a proper apprentice. He was only interested in the strangeness of the invisibility technique, and no one could guarantee what the apprentice would do after learning it.

Moreover, this man never intended to humbly ask for guidance. When Taoist Shan said he would not teach him and explained the reasons, this fellow actually had his servants arrest him. In this situation, what was the point of not running away? So Taoist Shan packed his bags and decisively ran away.

He Baiding originally intended to leave after finishing his drink, but then he thought that the person in front of him was a proper Taoist priest. If he followed the man, he could go directly through the city gate without having to sneak around and climb over the wall.

Although the people in the city had seen many "immortals" and were quite knowledgeable about them, they might not care much about someone like He Baiding. But knowledge is knowledge, and rules are rules. He Baiding had no intention of explaining to the guards outside the city gate why he had no identification and where he came from.

So when exactly will those two guys who went to the underworld come back?

Do you know how to get to the underworld?

Upon entering the city, the Taoist priest heard someone ask him a truly chilling question.

"You can't go to that place, fellow Daoist!"

After repeated confirmation, He Baiding is indeed a Taoist. The striking Buddhist crown on his head comes from a certain practice and a friend's "bad taste," so calling him "fellow Taoist" is not wrong.

Every time I turn around and call out to a fellow Daoist, my gaze inevitably drifts to the Buddha crown on the other person's head, and it always feels strange after I say it.

"There is a clear boundary between the realms of Yin and Yang. Living people cannot enter the underworld; once they go, they can never return."

Although ghosts can stay in the mortal realm for a long time, and even find a place to cultivate and become ghost immortals, people in the mortal realm cannot go to the underworld. If a soul leaves the body and accidentally enters the underworld, it must return as soon as possible. Otherwise, if too much time passes, the soul will not be able to leave, and the physical body will die sooner or later.

"What if there's a door?"

Lu Pan used to drink with Zhu Erdan every day, like visiting a friend. The Ten Kings Palace should be considered one of the entrances.

"That won't work either; the underworld is too dangerous for the living."

The Taoist priest knew many spells. In addition to turning tree bark into a bowl when drinking and the invisibility spell, he also transformed his tattered clothes into a neat dark Taoist robe in order to look better when entering the city.

At the time, He Baiding couldn't see exactly how he did it. He only saw the man take off his coat, shake it, and it turned into a brand new Taoist robe. When he put it back on, his hair was combed, and his shoes and pants were changed.

Even when showing his credentials to enter the city, he first drew a circle on the ground with a twig, then the ground was lifted up, and a package was taken out from it, containing his credentials.

He Baiding saw that this person was quite capable, so he wanted to ask him if he had any plans to go to the underworld, so that he could go and urge him directly.

"Fellow Daoist, why would you want to go to the underworld?"

The Taoist priest asked cautiously, glancing up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly, and the surrounding yang energy was abundant. He was terrified that He Baiding might say something like that he was a dead man and needed to go to the underworld.

It wasn't that he was afraid of ghosts, but he was simply terrified. The person he had been drinking and chatting with just now wasn't a living person. He couldn't think about such things too much, but he was also very sure that there was nothing wrong with his eyes and that there was definitely a living person in front of him.

But it's even more strange when a living person suddenly says they want to go to the underworld.

He Baiding saw through the other party's thoughts and wanted to explain, but he suddenly remembered that according to the original plot, Daozu He Baiding was indeed already dead. He was first possessed and, after several twists and turns, he died with his friend and the enemy. He could be described as "dying a very miserable death".

It must be said that the phrase "extremely miserable" truly defined the lives of these innate individuals.

"The people I am looking for are now in the underworld, but they are not dead; they have been invited as guests."

"A guest?"

A visit to the underworld? That invitation is way too sinister.

"Listen to what the Illuminating Lamp has to say..."

He Baiding pressed one hand to his forehead, recalling what he had said at the time.

"They said they were going to watch the examination for selecting the City God and to act as an examiner."

Regardless of how frozen and petrified those around him were after hearing this, He Baiding walked straight ahead and arrived at the Ten Kings Hall.

First, Zhu Erdan received a heart transplant, transforming from a fool into a genius. Then, lightning struck the Wu family's night sky. No sooner had they finished their worship than the guy who wanted to harm Miss Wu was struck down. Now, the Ten Kings Temple is seen as the most efficacious temple, attracting a constant stream of worshippers.

Even though no other events proving the power of the Ten Kings Palace appeared later, and even though Judge Lu basically stopped appearing due to the turmoil in the underworld, people's enthusiasm did not diminish at all, because there was still Zhu Erdan as a living example.

"It's unexpectedly lively."

There were no rules or taboos in the Ten Kings Hall. He Baiding stood at the door, leaning against a pillar, drinking wine openly. With his excellent hearing, he heard most of the prayers.

The funny thing is, the Ten Kings Hall is dedicated to the King of Hell and the judges of the underworld. When you make a wish to a deity, you should at least consider which deity it is and make your wish according to their duties. But these people who come to worship are still chanting the same old things: wishing for a child, a promotion, wealth, and longevity...

It's as if they don't care what kind of deity is sitting on top, or whether their prayers match the deity's, they always ask for the same thing, it never changes.

Before Zhu Erdan's incident, this place was deserted and no one visited. The statues were not maintained or cared for, so much so that a drunken fool could be persuaded to carry away the judge's statue.

"Finally caught up! Fellow Daoist, what brings you here?"

Just as the Taoist priest finished processing what he had heard and recovered from his petrified state, he realized that He Baiding had already gone far away, so he hurried to catch up with him.

At this moment, He Baiding's attire had a positive effect on the pursuers. Because of his mixed Buddhist and Taoist clothing, the surrounding people knew that he was not simple and dared not approach him rashly. As a result, a deserted area automatically opened up around He Baiding.

Then, since the martial artist was tall and had an eye-catching Buddhist crown on his head, the Taoist priest could easily catch him. He could simply look up and find the magnificent Buddhist crown.

He went to the underworld to watch the selection exam for the City God and felt that he had heard something extraordinary. He decided to continue following He Baiding to observe and understand it clearly.

"The Ten Kings Palace... So many people in the Ten Kings Palace?"

The place was bustling with people, and the Taoist priest thought that a temple was holding an event. But when he looked up, he was surprised to see that it was the Hall of the Ten Kings. When did a place that enshrines the King of Hell and the judges of the underworld become so popular with worshippers?

Because of the nature of the gods of the underworld, places where they are worshipped have always been relatively sparsely populated, with people mostly feeling fear. The City God Temple is slightly better, but even outside of holidays, it rarely attracts a large number of people.

"Wait someone."

"Who are you waiting for?"

"People who have gone to the underworld."

"...Fellow Daoist, let's make a deal. Don't speak like that in the future."